The Supreme Court has ruled that Coway, the top company in the domestic water purifier rental market based on sales, did not infringe on the ice water purifier patent of fifth-ranked Cheongho Nice. The patent dispute that began in 2014 when Cheongho Nice filed a lawsuit against Coway has concluded with Coway's victory after 11 years. Coway's legal representation was handled by Lee & Ko.
On the 15th, the Supreme Court's Civil Division 3 (Chief Justice Eom Sang-pil) confirmed the second-instance ruling that Coway's products did not infringe on Cheongho Nice's patent in the lawsuit filed by Cheongho Nice against Coway for injunction against patent infringement and damages.
Coway launched its self-sterilizing ice water purifier in 2012. However, Cheongho Nice claimed that this product copied the hot and cold water supply system of their product, the Iguazu ice water purifier, which was released in 2006, and filed a lawsuit against Coway in 2014.
The first-instance court ruled in favor of Cheongho Nice, ordering Coway to destroy related product equipment and pay 10 billion won in damages.
However, the second-instance court overturned the first-instance ruling, stating that the operating principles of the two products are different, resulting in a ruling against the plaintiff. The core of Cheongho Nice's patent is the method of directly producing ice using pre-made cold water, and it is explained that Coway's product does not use such a method.
Ultimately, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal and confirmed the second-instance ruling, bringing the patent lawsuit between the two companies to a close with Coway's victory. Lee Jun-seok, head of Coway's intellectual property (IP) team, noted, "The Supreme Court's ruling, stating that the two companies' ice water purifiers have fundamental differences in their ice-making methods, is a natural conclusion."